William Richardson Davie (1756–1820), a distinguished veteran of the southern campaigns in the American Revolution and a strong Federalist, was elected governor of North Carolina in 1798. He recently had been commissioned by President Adams to join Oliver Ellsworth and William Vans Murray in a mission to France to settle the two countries’ differences (SMITH [5] description begins Page Smith. John Adams. 2 vols. Garden City, N.Y., 1962. description ends , 2:994–1003, 1010–16).